Bruins Players Rejecting This Post-NHL Trade Deadline Narrative

As recently as a few weeks ago, the Bruins’ playoff chances at Money Puck hovered around 2 or 3%. Now, with a month left in the regular season, that number has tripled.

Granted, Boston’s 9% chance entering Thursday’s game in Ottawa represents a long shot to get back to the postseason, but there’s some momentum and optimism around the team right now. The Bruins have put forth three strong efforts, including back-to-back wins, and they aren’t giving up until they’re mathematically eliminated.

That run coincided with a lot of roster turnover for the Black and Gold. The Bruins unloaded some major pieces at the NHL trade deadline, most notably Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle. Despite what those sorts of moves can signal to the outside, those inside the Bruins dressing room remain focused on moving up the standings.

“We all kind of have the same mentality that no matter what the moves they make, the goal remains the same,” B’s forward Mark Kastelic told reporters Thursday in Ottawa. “We’re not gonna just give up even though we made some moves and brought in a lot of good people. We’re still a great hockey team, so I think everybody’s just hungry to continue to push to make the playoffs. That’s been our mindset all along, so nothing’s really changed.”

Kastelic also noted how important Thursday’s tilt with the Senators is if the Bruins want to keep pace. The Sens currently hold the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot with 73 points. Ottawa also has two games in hand on the 68-point Bruins, who currently are among a group of four teams within two points of Columbus, which currently holds the No. 2 wild card.

The relative optimism about what can still be done this season is in line with what the Bruins said after an emotionally charged win Tuesday night over Florida.

“There is no quit in this team, and we’re going to keep pushing until the end,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov told reporters after Tuesday’s win at TD Garden. “We’re trying to build momentum we haven’t had all year. I think you get a couple of wins, you start feeling great, you feel confident inside the group. I think that’s a good thing, something brewing for sure.”

There’s a reason the chances are less than 10% going into Thursday. The Bruins play 10 of their final 16 games on the road, and that includes a brutal West Coast trip that will bring them to Vegas, San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim. But there are also some opportunities to make up ground on teams like Ottawa, Detroit and Montreal.

However, the Bruins can’t afford to start getting too ahead of themselves. The one-game-at-a-time mindset is paramount and continues Thursday night in Canada’s capital. NESN’s pregame coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET.